Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has re-iterated that Canada has no intention to become the 51st state of the US.
“It’s not going to happen,” he said.
Speaking to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki on MSNBC’s “Inside” on Sunday, Trudeau discussed President-Elect Donald Trump’s repeated comments that Canada could become a part of the US.
“I know as a successful negotiator he likes to keep people off balance. The 51st state, it’s not going to happen,” he said.
The prime minister, who has faced growing unpopularity in the polls ahead of a national election, announced that he will step down in March after his Liberal Party picks a new leader.
Trump has upped the ante recently with repeated comments about annexing Canada.
“You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said at a press conference at his Florida Mar-a Lago home on Tuesday.
“Canada and the United States, that would really be something.”
He has even gone so far as to call the prime minister “Governor Trudeau,” a position usually held by leaders of US states.
But on television on Sunday, Trudeau said he pays those jabs no mind.
“I tend to focus on the substantive things, and not on people choosing nicknames for me. I mean, if I was that thin-skinned I probably wouldn’t last that long in politics.”
One of the big reasons Canada will not join America, Trudeau said, is simple: Canadians do not want to.
When trying to define their national identity, Trudeau said Canadians are likely to say “we’re not Americans”, amongst other things.
Earlier this week, Trudeau put it more bluntly, saying there was not “a snowball’s chance in hell” that the two countries would become one.
Trudeau said that what he is concerned about is the impact of tariffs on Canadians and Americans. Tensions between Trump and Canada have been simmering since the president-elect announced his plan to implement 25% tariffs on goods coming from Canada.
The move would have a significant impact on Canada’s economy, and could lead to retaliatory tariffs.
“Canadians are incredibly proud of being Canadian, but people are now talking about that rather than the impact that 25 percent tariffs,” Trudeau said. “No American wants to pay 25 percent more for electricity or oil and gas coming in from Canada.”
Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted on social media that she had met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence over the weekend to discuss the important of US-Canada energy partnerships. Alberta is a major oil and gas exporter.
